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Improve My Resume in 30 Minutes

 

Writing a resume in accordance with the rules and expert advice can take you hours of exhausting work. However, giving it a professional makeover takes considerably less time. Today, we are going to reveal the hints on improving your resume in less than half an hour.

Improve your resume with professional help

In the competitive world, you need to really stand out to get the attention and consideration you deserve. This is especially true for a resume which only gets 6 seconds of recruiter’s attention. If despite all the time and effort you put into it your resume still doesn’t look impressive, hiring a certified professional resume writer can be a solution. While working one-to-one with you, your writer will create a brand new resume for you, taking into account the demands and expectations of hiring managers. You’ll definitely get a resume and a cover letter that meet your requirements: we offer free revisions until you’re satisfied with the product.

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How to improve a resume in 30 minutes

Need to apply for a job urgently and don’t have time to rewrite your resume? When you’re ready to take new career risk, even the tiniest details matter. Implementing the changes below won’t take you much time but will definitely help your resume look more professional and eye-grabbing.

  1. Set 1 inch margins on all sides
    There isn’t a clear rule on which margins to set for your resume. However, unless you’re a graphic designer who can organize the resume space with intention, setting 1-inch margins is the best tactic. Firstly, it immediately organizes the resume content on the paper sheet. And secondly, it prevents your resume from looking cluttered and adds the necessary white space. For more formatting tricks for your resume, see here: https://resumeperk.com/blog/significant-tips-how-to-format-your-resume.
  2. Apply Arial or Calibri font, 10-12 pts
    Using a less-than-common font to stand out can be tempting, but usually it doesn’t pay off. Sophisticated fonts distract the reader from what you’re trying to say and, which is even worse, may not read correctly on some computers or smartphones. Use one of the safe bets such as Arial, Tahoma or Calibri and make the font size big enough to make it comfortable to read on any device. If you haven’t done so yet, center your name and use a bigger font for it.
  3. Use the same spacing throughout the document
    One of the things that immediately spoils the appearance of your resume is using different spacing between the sections and the lines. Apply the same type of spacing for the entire document to make the document look neat. If you use make my resume builder, however, you don’t need to take care about formatting as such builders simply insert your text into a pre-set template.
  4. Add your target job title
    If the company has several positions open, sending a resume without a job title indicated can leave the hiring manager confused about which job you’re applying for. Moreover, if you’re a career changer, your experience won’t be much helpful in resolving this puzzle. That’s why it’s necessary to indicate a desired job title right after your name and contact details. In addition, it will help you add a great keyword at the top of the document.
  5. Boldface the company names and job titles
    Boldfacing the important information immediately draws the reader’s attention to it – don’t neglect this simple trick. In your resume, it is recommended that you use bold font for section headings, job titles and company names, and the names of other organizations you contributed to. You might want to highlight other important information, but be careful – the excess of formatting in a resume makes an impression that the document is cluttered and makes it even harder to read.
  6. Use bullet points for your responsibilities and accomplishments
    The best time-proven and visually attractive way to organize statements in your resume is using bulleted lists. Keep in mind, however, that every bulleted sentence should be no longer than 1-2 lines and the number of bullets shouldn’t exceed 7-8 for each role.
  7. Create a separate section for your accomplishments
    If you had had a number of game-changing accomplishments that really benefited the companies you worked for, it’s a good idea to bring them into light. Create an Accomplishments section above the Professional Experience and showcase your top results with figures. In this case, you’ll declare what you’re capable of at a glance and the hiring manager won’t have to dig through the text to look for your accomplishments.
  8. Take advantage of the strong action verbs
    Most job-seekers tend to overuse such verbs as “led”, “managed”, and “responsible for” in their resumes. Repetitive verbs make the reading dull for hiring manager as they’ve seen it all thousand times before. Try replacing weak verbs with strong ones such as “facilitated”, “initiated”, “orchestrated” and others depending on the impact you’ve made (for good examples of strong action verbs, check here.
    If you have more than 30 minutes in your disposal and feel like improving your writing skills, you might find these tips for PhD student writers helpful.
  9. Remove the “References available upon request”
    This statement, which is frequently used at the end of resume, makes absolutely no sense. It goes without saying that a prospective employer can request the references and you’ll provide it for them. In addition to taking your valuable resume space, some recruiters find it hopelessly outdated – and this isn’t the impression you’d like to make on a prospective employer.
  10. Delete your old jobs
    Are you a job-seeker with 20- or 30-year career history? If you list every job you had, your resume will turn out unnecessarily long. Make it shorter and more relevant for the prospective role by leaving out the jobs you had over 15 years ago. If you’d like to showcase your career progression, it is acceptable to include company names and job titles without expanding on your responsibilities.
    For more guidance on how long your resume should be, read our tips on perfect resume length.
  11. Get rid of private information
    Resume is all about your professional competencies rather than your private life. Your age, marital status, nationality and your picture shouldn’t be included on the resume. Most companies decline such resumes to avoid claims of discrimination. The same works for your hobbies – they deserve being mentioned only if they have something to do with your career line. As for your picture, save it for LinkedIn profile (and even there, it should be a strictly professional headshot).
  12. Remove irrelevant professional experience
    Little of us stick to the same line of career throughout our professional life. Part-time jobs, starting our own business and pursuing different career path happen to lots of job-seekers. However, such issues should be addressed properly on your resume. If you have enough relevant experience for the job you’re going to apply for, feel free to remove your irrelevant jobs. Expanding on irrelevant jobs on your resume will only confuse the hiring manager. If you don’t know how to put your diverse experience together and create a positive professional image on paper, consider collaborating with a skilled resume writer.
  13. Add a short Career Summary
    Rewriting your resume will take much longer than 30 minutes. However, you still can update your career summary in five minutes or so. The main rule is to describe your biggest strengths and highlight how you solved core organizational problems.  Don’t make it too long – 5-6 lines are enough to convey your message. If you still have an objective, delete it and write a summary of qualifications instead.
  14. Delete the outdated facts about your education
    If it’s been over 5 years since you graduated, your education section should be limited to university name, degree and your major. Including GPA, academic honors and coursework are okay for recent graduates, but look weird for a candidate with ten years of professional experience. The same applies for outdated skills and certifications – simply omit them or replace with fresher information.
  15. Read it aloud
    As soon as you’ve completed correcting your resume, it’s necessary to make sure that every statement makes sense. By reading it aloud, you’ll make sure that everything sounds correctly and remove any awkward phrases or words. Moreover, this will help you correct grammar and punctuation errors.
    Tip: print your resume out before reading it aloud. Our brain perceives information from the screen and the paper sheet differently. When reading it out from the paper, you’re more likely to find awkward issues and correct mistakes.

In-depth rewriting of your resume takes time, effort and requires developed writing skills. However, updating your resume and giving it a professional makeover is much easier and you can improve your resume on your own in less than an hour. Make your resume shine!

Need urgent help with your resume?

When you don’t have time to spend on writing or editing of your resume, take the advantage of resume improvement services. We work 24/7 to assist you with resume writing anytime. The expert writers of our team have vast experience in resume writing and know how to craft your resume in a way that will attract the attention of recruiters. At a very affordable fee, you can buy resume paper and you will get all application documents written from scratch personally for you. Therefore, you’ll have more time to prepare for unexpected interview questions.

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